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金剛頂瑜伽降三世成就極深密門

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Text ID
KR6j0436
Date
746–774
Dynasty
唐

Jīngāngdǐng yújiā jiàngsānshì chéngjiù jíshēnmì mén 金剛頂瑜伽降三世成就極深密門

The Most-Profound-and-Secret Gate of Trailokyavijaya-Accomplishment in the Vajraśekhara-Yoga by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)

About the work

A one-fascicle Táng Esoteric Trailokyavijaya (降三世 Jiàngsānshì — “Subduer of the Three Worlds”) manual, extracted from the Vajraśekhara-yoga (金剛頂瑜伽) cycle, translated by Amoghavajra (不空). Title page: full elevated Amoghavajra titulature.

Abstract

The text opens with a verse-prelude: “I bow to the holy lord Samanta-bhadra Vajrapāṇi, / Who in order to subdue all… ”

The text expounds the Trailokyavijaya (Subduer-of-Three-Worlds) cycle — one of the most important wrathful-protector cycles of the Esoteric Yoga-tantra system, here in its Vajraśekhara-school presentation. Trailokyavijaya is iconographically represented as a multi-armed wrathful figure trampling on the Hindu deities Maheśvara and Umā under his feet, embodying the symbolic conquest of the rival śaiva tradition by the Esoteric Buddhist vajra-yāna.

The body of the text gives the most-profound-and-secret (極深密) attainment-method of the Trailokyavijaya cycle:

  1. The root mantra of Trailokyavijaya — the oṃ sumbhanisumbha hūṃ phaṭ form;
  2. The mudrā-cycle — the standard Trailokyavijaya wrathful seal;
  3. The visualization — Trailokyavijaya as a four-faced, eight-armed (or sixteen-armed, in expanded forms) wrathful figure trampling Maheśvara and Umā;
  4. The purificatory subjugations — abhicāra of the kleshas of lust, hatred, and delusion, ritually identified with the trampled subordinates.

The text is the most concentrated of Amoghavajra’s Trailokyavijaya translations, paired with T1210 (KR6j0437) as practical companion. The dating bracket follows Amoghavajra’s translation activity at Cháng’ān (746–774).

Translations and research

  • Goble, Geoffrey C. Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019.
  • Davidson, Ronald M. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. (For the broader Trailokyavijaya cycle in the Yoga-tantra system.)

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